In synthesizing methanol from natural gas, in most cases, natural gas is steam-reformed, then reformed gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide is generated, and methanol is then synthesized from the reformed gas. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Publication (B2) No. H04-51596 discloses a method for synthesizing gasoline from methanol via dimethyl ether (DME). The reaction for synthesizing gasoline from methanol is an exothermic reaction, and the reaction is run at a temperature of about 400° C.; however, the heat of such a high temperature has not been effectively used in conventional techniques.
In addition, because heat of reaction as high as about 400° C. is generated by synthesizing gasoline, it is necessary to cool a gasoline synthesis column. Japanese Patent Publication (B2) No. H04-51596 discloses a method in which heating and cooling are repeatedly carried out by using two stages of gasoline synthesis columns in order to perform the above-described cooling.